Blog about your i3 experience

[TomMoloughney]

I started a new series on my i3 blog caller "I was Born Electric on…". It will spotlight real i3 owners and give them a chance to tell the world what they think of their new i3. I just posted the first in the series and Andy from the UK did a great job with his guest post. You can read his post from the link below.

If anyone else would like to participate and do a goes post in the series for my blog, you can send me a private message here in the forum, thanks!

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/01/i-was-born-electric-onthe-first-bmw-i3.html

 

[AndyW]

Thanks for asking me Tom!

I'm a bit concerned that my short range numbers in that blog post are worrying people unduly, judging by the comments. I've been driving my i3 really hard, that's why I'm getting such low range figures, 75 miles which would reduce to maybe 60 if I kept up the pace until the battery ran out. But as I don't keep going til the car conks out, it doesn't matter - I get home with plenty of range to spare.

This morning, I drove more sedately in EP+, and the range immediately leapt up to 86 miles. After driving 10 miles to work, it was still at 86! Assuming the range kept dropping more slowly than the distance travelled increased, I can see a range of 100 miles+ being easily possible. I'll keep driving sensibly for the next couple of days, see what I can eke out.

I got 5 stars for acceleration and for anticipation this morning - hope you're impressed!

 

[TomMoloughney]

Thanks for asking me Tom!

I'm a bit concerned that my short range numbers in that blog post are worrying people unduly, judging by the comments. I've been driving my i3 really hard, that's why I'm getting such low range figures, 75 miles which would reduce to maybe 60 if I kept up the pace until the battery ran out. But as I don't keep going til the car conks out, it doesn't matter - I get home with plenty of range to spare.

This morning, I drove more sedately in EP+, and the range immediately leapt up to 86 miles. After driving 10 miles to work, it was still at 86! Assuming the range kept dropping more slowly than the distance travelled increased, I can see a range of 100 miles+ being easily possible. I'll keep driving sensibly for the next couple of days, see what I can eke out.

I got 5 stars for acceleration and for anticipation this morning - hope you're impressed!

Thanks Andy! Yes, I did get some private messages asking me about the range now, but at the same time you were clear that you drive it hard and people should know what to expect if they drive it hard.

I'm going to run guest blog posts like this for a while. The followers have really reacted positively to Andy's post, plus, it's always good to hear more than one voice so if you are one of the lucky ones that have an i3 already and would like to be featured on my blog, please message me and we can set it up!

 

[TomMoloughney]

I just put up the second installment of the i3 owners series. This time Hil form Holland gave us his impressions after owning he's i3 for about a month:
http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/01/bmw-i3-born-electric-guest-blogger-meet.html

 

[Nu2ecar]

Andy, thanks for the blog, and especially for your postscript regarding range. I'm in California where the Rex is a non-starter for several reasons. My city is spread out, with some mesas and canyons (neither the Fens nor Cornwall) and laced with freeways. I drive reasonably aggressively but not like a boy-racer. I use airconditioning, the heater only rarely. The biggest drain on the battery will probably be the freeways, which I try to drive just under 80 mph. Others on this site have suggested my range might be around 40 miles. Would you agree?

 

[vb996]

Since the last two weeks my range is back to more than 800km's... My i3 is broken for two weeks now, and I now drive a spare X1 petrol car. My i3 has an issue with the high voltage distributor. It took BMW 2 weeks to find the source of trouble. Unfortunately the spare part is not available. They can't even provide a delivery date for the spare part. Another i3 had the same issue, this guy got a delivery date of 5 weeks.... Hopefully BMW can do better in my case.
So far: the first 1120 km's were great, but since then BMW service is far below zero...
So no blogs from my side the coming weeks on electrical ranges.

 

[MikeS]

Maybe we need to start a new section on the forum for faults and fixes?

 

[TomMoloughney]

Maybe we need to start a new section on the forum for faults and fixes?

Good suggestion Mike, I'll start one now.

 

[MikeS]

Since the last two weeks my range is back to more than 800km's... My i3 is broken for two weeks now, and I now drive a spare X1 petrol car. My i3 has an issue with the high voltage distributor. It took BMW 2 weeks to find the source of trouble. Unfortunately the spare part is not available. They can't even provide a delivery date for the spare part. Another i3 had the same issue, this guy got a delivery date of 5 weeks.... Hopefully BMW can do better in my case.
So far: the first 1120 km's were great, but since then BMW service is far below zero...
So no blogs from my side the coming weeks on electrical ranges.

Can you please tell us what the symptoms were of the 'high voltage distributor’ fault?

 

[TomMoloughney]

Toni from Belgium chimed in on his i3 ownership experience: http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/02/bmw-i3-born-electric-guest-blogger-meet.html

 

[vb996]

Since the last two weeks my range is back to more than 800km's... My i3 is broken for two weeks now, and I now drive a spare X1 petrol car. My i3 has an issue with the high voltage distributor. It took BMW 2 weeks to find the source of trouble. Unfortunately the spare part is not available. They can't even provide a delivery date for the spare part. Another i3 had the same issue, this guy got a delivery date of 5 weeks.... Hopefully BMW can do better in my case.
So far: the first 1120 km's were great, but since then BMW service is far below zero...
So no blogs from my side the coming weeks on electrical ranges.

Can you please tell us what the symptoms were of the 'high voltage distributor’ fault?

Symptoms quite funny: no heating in the car. So I went to the dealer and it turned out to be a serious problem. Currently my dealer has 3 cars with the same issue. BMW not capable to deliver spare parts, expected delivery time is end of Februari (2014 I assume, but not sure). So far no sign of compensation nor calling by BMW i customer service where I raised a complaint....

 

[gaz26]

Since the last two weeks my range is back to more than 800km's... My i3 is broken for two weeks now, and I now drive a spare X1 petrol car. My i3 has an issue with the high voltage distributor. It took BMW 2 weeks to find the source of trouble. Unfortunately the spare part is not available. They can't even provide a delivery date for the spare part. Another i3 had the same issue, this guy got a delivery date of 5 weeks.... Hopefully BMW can do better in my case.
So far: the first 1120 km's were great, but since then BMW service is far below zero...
So no blogs from my side the coming weeks on electrical ranges.

Can you please tell us what the symptoms were of the 'high voltage distributor’ fault?

Symptoms quite funny: no heating in the car. So I went to the dealer and it turned out to be a serious problem. Currently my dealer has 3 cars with the same issue. BMW not capable to deliver spare parts, expected delivery time is end of Februari (2014 I assume, but not sure). So far no sign of compensation nor calling by BMW i customer service where I raised a complaint....

Demand your money back put it in writing. Don't accept this fob off by BMW.

 

[Atommad]

We have been delighted and very impressed with our car, having had it almost two weeks. It is great fun to drive, very comfortable, feels solid and well built, and charging has been no hassle both at home and public charging. I hope the unfortunate problems listed above are isolated to few cars, although that's no consolation to those affected.

 

[jamie94bc]

I've had mine for a week so far - it really is a fantastic car. People stop and stare more than if it were a supercar - no matter what age they are!

One thing I have noticed is that especially around blind corners or hills that some people won't hear it coming so it requires a bit of common sense and vigilance to drive in populated areas

 

[TomMoloughney]

Jan from Belgium offers his thoughts on his i3 experience so far:
http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/02/bmw-i3-born-electric-guest-blogger-meet_10.html

 

[TomMoloughney]

Ross for The UK did a guest post offering his thoughts on his i3 after taking it out on the track for a while: http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/03/born-electric-guest-blogger-meet-ross.html

 

[noakey]

Since the last two weeks my range is back to more than 800km's... My i3 is broken for two weeks now, and I now drive a spare X1 petrol car. My i3 has an issue with the high voltage distributor. It took BMW 2 weeks to find the source of trouble. Unfortunately the spare part is not available. They can't even provide a delivery date for the spare part. Another i3 had the same issue, this guy got a delivery date of 5 weeks.... Hopefully BMW can do better in my case.
So far: the first 1120 km's were great, but since then BMW service is far below zero...
So no blogs from my side the coming weeks on electrical ranges.

Can you please tell us what the symptoms were of the 'high voltage distributor’ fault?

Symptoms quite funny: no heating in the car. So I went to the dealer and it turned out to be a serious problem. Currently my dealer has 3 cars with the same issue. BMW not capable to deliver spare parts, expected delivery time is end of Februari (2014 I assume, but not sure). So far no sign of compensation nor calling by BMW i customer service where I raised a complaint....

My i3 is waiting for its second charge regulator replacement... they said 2-3 weeks delivery and after 2 weeks they can't even give me a delivery date... my i3 was delivered on 7 may and I have only had 15 days use.. 2 weeks use in 2 months I am starting to loose patience... In fact tomorrow I will offer to drive to Germany to collect it... btw. .. bmw customer service is excellent though...

 

[RJSATLBA]

15 days on the road in almost 2 months is dreadful. It says a lot that you still seem very enthusiastic about the car itself.

I'd assumed that one of the few upsides of a long wait would be that serious problems like this would have been fixed.

 

[TomMoloughney]

I'm sure many of you have also found your i3 is perfectly suited to live outside the city limits. I did a blog post on my "Megacity" car's life in the country:

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/07/this-city-car-is-at-home-in-country.html

 

[bishbosh]

I'm sure many of you have also found your i3 is perfectly suited to live outside the city limits. I did a blog post on my "Megacity" car's life in the country:

http://bmwi3.blogspot.com/2014/07/this-city-car-is-at-home-in-country.html

That is a great picture of your car. Really makes the contrasting black tail and roof stand out at the rear.
Thanks for sharing.

Mark.